NEWS BRIEFS
“This is a big deal because it restores
unions’ rights to communicate with members
by email, even work email,” says Prozanski.
“It’s a great decision, long overdue, and
upholds the decision made after the original
hearing on R-G ULPs (unlawful labor
practices) back in 2001. (That decision,
released spring 2002, was appealed numerous
times.) Hooray for free speech!”
The court’s decision, in part, was based
on the fact that the R-G management did
not enforce its Communication Systems
Policy banning non-work email. No
employee had been reprimanded for
sending out party invitations, birth
announcements or other personal emails.
The policy was only enforced for union
communications.
Is it all over? “This should be the end of
it, assuming the R-G follows through with
what they’re supposed to do,” says
Prozanski. “Also, my understanding is that
this went just one step shy of the Supreme
Court. After the Federal Appeals Court
decision, the R-G could’ve appealed to the
Supreme Court, but did not.”
R-G Editor and Publisher Tony Baker
did not respond to a request for comment
by press time. — Ted Taylor
KEEP CARBON,
SAVE TREES
With its 50-percent ratio of carbon emit-
ted to carbon sequestered, Oregon is beating
the national and global ratios at 15 percent
and is a creating a prime place to bank on
carbon reserves, says professor David Turner
from OSU’s Department of Forest Ecosys-
tems and Society. Turner was part of a recent
study that confirmed that the amount of car-
bon being sequestered in Oregon’s federal
forests is substantial compared to the amount
released in the atmosphere.
So with thousands of acres of state
forests in addition to federal forestland,
why isn’t the state banking on these
potentially profitable carbon reserves?
“Right now is a critical time to position
Oregon to take advantage of up-and-
coming carbon markets,” Kate Ritley,
executive director of Cascadia Wildlands,
says. Carbon sequestration could be some
forests' (like the Elliott State Forest) only
hope against logging, according to
Cascadia Wildlands campaign director
Josh Laughlin. Any profits from the Elliott
go to the Common School Fund to
contribute to Oregon’s public schools.
“The Elliott State Forest has an
unmatched ability to absorb carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere,” he says. “The state
of Oregon must leverage the ability of this
priceless forest to store carbon for dollars
instead of clearcutting vast tracts of
rainforest and exacerbating the climate
crisis,” he adds.
But the state isn’t jumping on board yet,
preferring to cut down trees to fund public
schools.
“Although the state has indicated interest
in the carbon market potential of state
forests, their actions are in direct opposition
to their words,” Ritley says, adding that her
organization is fighting a new management
plan that would increase logging in the
Elliott, releasing even more carbon.
Ritley added that California is only a year
or two away from taking its carbon market
live. It’s expected to become the biggest in
the country and to generate more than $10
billion within five years, linking with several
carbon markets in Canada. The longer Ore-
gon waits to expand its carbon market, the
more potential revenue is lost, Ritley said.
“It is appalling that a state so green as
Oregon is proposing to ramp up clearcutting
of older public rainforest on the Elliott
State Forest,” Laughlin said. “These forests
must be safeguarded for the clean water
they provide, the pure air we breathe, the
climate they stabilize and for the essential
habitat they offer for critters on the brink
of extinction.”
The Cascadia Forest Defenders have
been focused on the Elliott for a campaign
to stop the increased clearcut logging that
would take place under the new plan. The
campaign has included recent tree sits, a
lockdown by the Trans and Womyn’s
Action Camp at the ODF office in Molalla
and on Aug. 8 the group supported Barbara
Shamet and Wolfgang Schwarz, whose
farm in Alleghany, Ore., borders the Elliott,
in talking to loggers about the clearcutting
1,000 feet south of their property. The
landowners say they plan to fight the timber
sale, which Shamet says took place in a
“closed door process.” — Kendall Fields
EAST SIDE
ALLIANCE
Some Eugeneans got excited when
Michelle Obama’s motorcade pulled
through town on Aug. 8. Others got excited
when the chair of the White House’s Coun-
cil on Environmental Quality landed in
GOLF COURSE SPRAYED WITH CHEMICALS
A recent spraying of fungicides, herbicides and
insecticides at Laurelwood, a city of Eugene-owned
golf course that’s been open since 1929, is the source of
dismay to its neighbors as well as Oregon Toxics
Alliance. According to Lisa Arkin of OTA, portions of
the course that were sprayed include areas near park
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benches and water fountains where children and course
users could be exposed. She says neighbors did not see
any signs posted 24 hours in advance warning of the
toxic sprays, per city policy.
OTA has been working to reduce the amount of
pesticide the public is exposed to, especially children,
through its Safe Public Places campaign promoting the
reduction of toxic chemicals through the use of
Integrated Pest Management.
Arkin and several neighborhood leaders met with
Craig Smith, recreation services director for Eugene
and contract manager of Laurelwood, to discuss the
pesticide spraying after concerned neighbors and
Laurelwood users brought it to OTA’s attention.
Images from OTA’s presentation at the Aug. 3
meeting show evidence of pesticides sprayed along
water drainages leading to Amazon Creek, over standing
water, along pathways and near tee-off areas. The
stormwater runoff from such sprays can spread toxic
chemicals beyond the areas sprayed and affect birds,
fish and amphibians.
Spraying near waterways violates the city’s IPM
policy, Arkin says.
The chemicals used include glyphosate, which OTA
says is a human hormone disruptor, has caused liver
damage in lab experiments, is a neurotoxin linked to
lowering children’s IQ and has been linked to multiple
myoeloma. The chemical insecticide, which OTA says
is a carcinogen and hormone disruptor that is acutely
toxic to honeybees and lethal to many other beneficial
insects as well as harmful to salmon, was also used.
According to the spray application report for
Laurelwood, dated June 13, at least 10 different
chemicals were used.
Smith says ironically the current managers of the
course have been working to reduce the amounts of
chemicals used at Laurelwood.
He says contrary to OTA’s claim that Laurelwood is
a dispersed natural area — which “include natural areas
and future developed parks in Eugene’s Parks and Open
Space system which are not associated with either
Eugene’s Ridgeline, Waterways, or the West Eugene
Wetlands,” according to the city’s website — “It’s
actually a golf course.”
The golf course managers, Will Benson and Todd
Matthews, had agreed to get the course certified as an
environmentally friendly Audubon Signature Program
by June 30, 2012, but Smith says economic conditions
have not allowed them stay on track to do that.
He says the recent spray incident is “not an indicator
of what these guys are doing up there.”
Smith says there was no water in the ditches at the
time of the spray and the ditches were a new addition to
the course. He says that ensuring Laurelwood follows
IPM is his responsibility, and he has been working with
the contractors since the issue arose on IPM and
posting notifications.
Arkin says Laurelwood isn’t the only public park
that has had pesticides used where children and pets
might come into contact with them. She says Hendricks
Park also recently sprayed pesticides on its pathways
during times park users could come into contact with
them. — Camilla Mortensen
EUGENE WEEKLY AUGUST 11, 2011 7